Christmas is fast approaching, and with the holiday, for me, comes another reason to worry. Last year, on Christmas Eve morning, I arrived at my Daughter's Mother's house to pick her up for the day. According to the court order I live by, Christmas Eve was "my holiday" that year. I had made arrangements over the phone with Mom to pick our Daughter up at 7 AM, keep her for the day, and wait for Mom to pick her up sometime before bed time. When I arrived at Mom's house, at precisely 7 AM, I rang the doorbell and waited in the cold. I had a feeling that my day was about to turn into a nightmare. I had started carrying my video camera in my truck a few months prior, and thought it might be a good thing to start filiming. Maybe if my day was as terrible as I felt it would be, I would at least be able to show the world what some parents go through. I returned to my truck, got my camera, an started filming. The whole thing is on tape, from ringing the doorbell numerous times without a response, to my phonecall to the Sheriff, to the Sheriffs explaining to her how what she was doing was hurting our Daughter. the Deputy told me I needed to get my decree registered in Iowa in order for them to be able to enforce it. I left to go do that, and Mom left with our Daughter shortly after. I ran into Judge William Zastera in the hallway of the Sarpy County Courthouse. I thought that he would not talk to me about my case, but approached him anyways. I wouldn't let 'not trying' stop me from spending Christmas Eve with my Daughter. To my surprise, Judge Zastera told me to explain what was going on, and after I did, he told me, "You get her here on contempt charges, and if what you say is true, I'll find her in contempt and put her in jail. Do you know who gets the child when her Mom goes to jail? You do. I'm an equal opportunity jailer."

Invigorated by the Judges words, I spent the rest of the day explaining to my family why Sydney was not with me, but that I would finally get some justice. I went to the Creighton Law Library and figured out how to file a contempt order. I filed the papers and got a court date. I hired Mike Lustgarten for my attorney, and went to court. Judge Zastera listened to the case, looking annoyed the entire time, and in the end, found Mom in contempt of court. My heart raced as I waited for justice. How long would she go to jail? $250.00 fine and no attorney's fees. I paid $1600.00 to my lawyer to have Judge Zastera break his word, and sentence Mom to a measley $250.00 fine and the worst part, NO MAKEUP VISITATION WAS ORDERED!

So this year Christmas gets my blood pumping, as I wait to see if the ex will follow the court order, or whether she will again break the order, knowing that there is no punishment for females in Zastera's court.

I support whoever is doing the firezastera.com website, but I certainly understand why someone is fed up with him.